Burt, Cool Guy, and I decided to do a very local hike for this weekend. We had a lot going on and didn't really have the time to put in a lot of driving. We chose Ohio River Islands National Wildlife Refuge because we had never hiked the Upper Trail, which is across the road from the headquarters building. That trail is on a hill in the woods as opposed to being on the flat floodplain.
What we didn't realize is that beginning Nov. 10, yes, Nov. 10, the very day that we were there, the Upper Trail was closed to hikers until Jan. 1 2013 because of bow hunting season. Sigh. It is time to break out the orange vests and chose hikes carefully. Now, I am not opposed to hunting, and I hope those bow-hunters get lots and LOTS of deer, as we have way too many, but I just wish it didn't interfere with my plans. Oh well. It's a very little thing.
So we went to Plan B, which was hiking the Bird and Butterfly Trail, and the River Trail. It was a fantastic day. The sun was shining, and we were thankful for the breeze because otherwise we would have been too hot in the layers we were wearing.
There were still grasshoppers on the edges of the trails, which surprised us, as we have already had more than one killer frost. Another thing of note was this wonderful fragrance somewhere among the plants. There was first a smell like one gets in a craft store full of the dried flowers that usually makes me sneeze. And then there was another, spicier scent, which, when I asked at the headquarters, I learned was probably Spice Bush. I'd like to go back and identify it positively sometime.
Also of note was the the path which runs right along the river's edge was completely washed out, as in covered deeply in mud. There was a line of muddied debris right beyond where the path should have been. This puzzled us because we couldn't think what would have caused this to happen. Hurricane Sandy did not get this far inland, and we escaped the Frankenstorm. All we had was a week of steady rain, but it was just rain, not wind or downpours. I asked at headquarters and was told that the bottom trail is really just the first tier for the river to expand if it floods, and apparently, a week of rain and a storm elsewhere is enough to cause "flooding." I'm saying it's not really flooding, just rising a little but still very much within bounds.
Other points of interest on this very short Plan B hike were surprising a dule of dove (that is the group name for dove; I looked it up), finding a bat house on an old dead tree, and finding the most interest tree that grew into a huge arch. I wonder what caused it to do that. It may have been that something else was in its way, so it had to grow that way, or there may be another explanation. I will have to ask the ranger next time.
Total distance of this very easy hike was probably 1 mile. We finished with lunch at Blacksmith Barbeque, our favorite place to eat and just across the river. Enjoyed ourselves and learned a thing or two.
What we didn't realize is that beginning Nov. 10, yes, Nov. 10, the very day that we were there, the Upper Trail was closed to hikers until Jan. 1 2013 because of bow hunting season. Sigh. It is time to break out the orange vests and chose hikes carefully. Now, I am not opposed to hunting, and I hope those bow-hunters get lots and LOTS of deer, as we have way too many, but I just wish it didn't interfere with my plans. Oh well. It's a very little thing.
So we went to Plan B, which was hiking the Bird and Butterfly Trail, and the River Trail. It was a fantastic day. The sun was shining, and we were thankful for the breeze because otherwise we would have been too hot in the layers we were wearing.
There were still grasshoppers on the edges of the trails, which surprised us, as we have already had more than one killer frost. Another thing of note was this wonderful fragrance somewhere among the plants. There was first a smell like one gets in a craft store full of the dried flowers that usually makes me sneeze. And then there was another, spicier scent, which, when I asked at the headquarters, I learned was probably Spice Bush. I'd like to go back and identify it positively sometime.
Also of note was the the path which runs right along the river's edge was completely washed out, as in covered deeply in mud. There was a line of muddied debris right beyond where the path should have been. This puzzled us because we couldn't think what would have caused this to happen. Hurricane Sandy did not get this far inland, and we escaped the Frankenstorm. All we had was a week of steady rain, but it was just rain, not wind or downpours. I asked at headquarters and was told that the bottom trail is really just the first tier for the river to expand if it floods, and apparently, a week of rain and a storm elsewhere is enough to cause "flooding." I'm saying it's not really flooding, just rising a little but still very much within bounds.
Other points of interest on this very short Plan B hike were surprising a dule of dove (that is the group name for dove; I looked it up), finding a bat house on an old dead tree, and finding the most interest tree that grew into a huge arch. I wonder what caused it to do that. It may have been that something else was in its way, so it had to grow that way, or there may be another explanation. I will have to ask the ranger next time.
Total distance of this very easy hike was probably 1 mile. We finished with lunch at Blacksmith Barbeque, our favorite place to eat and just across the river. Enjoyed ourselves and learned a thing or two.
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